Hell's Runaway
by Phantomraven1
Summary: This is the story of how and why Sirius Black ran away to live with James. - "Um, welcome to the family, mate?"


**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any characters/references in here.**

…

Sirius wasn't sure exactly how long he'd been locked up in his room. He could easily have left it, but he didn't feel like facing his parents' wrath when they discovered he had illegally used magic. Sirius would be able to get away with it too, since both of his parents were allowed to use magic. No, no… it was better to just stay up here where they couldn't get to him. He leaned back onto his bed, gazing up at the Gryffindor banner which he had pinned to his ceiling with magic. It was the only thing that would help him fall asleep at night. Every night he'd look up at that banner, and think: _That's where I belong._

Sirius had never felt out of place while in Hogwarts. When he'd first been sorted he had been terribly excited, his rebellious streak going through. It was only until later that night when he was in his dorms he started to worry about home. He hadn't been so worried for himself; rather, he was scared that his parents would take their fury out on Regulus, his younger brother. His worry was in vain though; Regulus was the son who would make them proud. Merlin forbid they do anything to upset their only hope of keeping the Black family's name. He sighed and rolled over in his bed, not really tired despite the late hour. Where was his little brother now? Sirius wondered. The little brother who had once been so close to him… who now hated him.

_The feeling is mutual you little snake, _thought Sirius vehemently, though he did feel a slight amount of guilt over his words. It wasn't really Regulus's fault that they'd lost their friendship. Sirius hadn't been exactly welcoming when they went to Hogwarts together, and his parents Walburga and Orion had raised him since birth to hate his 'naughty older brother'. Regulus hadn't really listened to his parents back then when it came to loving Sirius. Walburga and Orion figured that he was just biased with the lies Sirius told, and he was 'acting out'. It didn't help that this made them fearful of how he would end up, because Sirius had started acting out at that age too. They decided that they wouldn't make that mistake again.

Sirius had to blink back tears as his memory recalled how Sirius had hid upstairs with his pillow over his ears to try and block out his brother's screams whenever he disobeyed. Regulus went through the same thing, hiding his head under the pillow, whenever Sirius disobeyed – which was way more than Regulus could ever dream. Once they got older, Regulus started seeing things differently. Sirius _was _a naughty boy and Regulus got in trouble because of him. This was when they started falling apart.

Sirius didn't care in the least that his parents punished him, but he hated it when they punished Regulus. After a while, he had learned that ignoring Regulus was the best thing for him to do. Sixteen years and he'd just come to the conclusion that he'd lost his brother forever. His brother had been the only thing that kept him sane in this house. His father was strict with Sirius, but there were some times when he managed to get along with him. This bonding usually happened when Sirius mentioned brooms; however, this talk was not to be spoken in front of his mother, because she strongly disapproved. In fact, she strongly disapproved with everything that Sirius did. When Sirius made the Gryffindor team, Walburga had yelled so loud she almost lost her voice. When Regulus made the Slytherin team however, Walburga cooed over how much of a good player he would make, and to make them proud. She did, however, forbid him from practicing at home. She locked both Sirius and Regulus's brooms away, and they only were allowed to see them when the school year started again.

This frustrated both of the brothers, for they loved Quidditch equally, but their parents' word was law. They had both learned this the hard way.

Lately, though, Sirius seemed to be the only one who was getting in trouble. Regulus had come home one day in his fourth year of school claiming that he was to become a Death Eater. Walburga and Orion weren't Death Eaters themselves, but they did encourage this behavior in their son. They knew that if he was to become the best Black, he would never be in danger of Voldemort's wrath. All they cared about, it seemed to Sirius, was that their son was helping them by ridding mudbloods.

It made Sirius sick to his stomach, and he'd yelled at Regulus himself, but Regulus just stared him down coldly. He hadn't yelled for his parents, like he normally would have, he just stood his ground. This, more than anything, had made Sirius at a loss for words. This wasn't his brother. He was gone, completely, and now Sirius was alone with his parents who would explode at the simplest thing that Sirius would do wrong.

He absolutely loathed coming home for the holidays, and wished that he would be able to stay at Hogwarts, but Walburga and Orion both exclaimed that he was never to do that. If he even attempted to sign up to stay during the holidays, they'd burst into Hogwarts themselves and drag him by his hair back home. Then they would lock him up and send him to Durmstrang, where he would receive punishments every day.

He closed his eyes, but it seemed that when he did this he felt even more awake. He finally admitted defeat and sat up in his bed, wishing that there was something he could do. He glanced at his wardrobe, where a mirror that James (his best mate) and him had enchanted so they could both talk to each other. He debated on whether or not he should grab it, just to hear his voice and know that he wasn't alone, but decided against it. James would definitely not forgive him for disturbing his 'beauty sleep' as Sirius liked to call it.

So instead he let out a long sigh and got out of bed, pacing rapidly. There was really nothing he could do. Well, there were loads of things he could do, but he didn't _want _to do them. He had books and other pointless things that had never been touched. He'd already given up on trying to shut up the sneakoscope Remus (his other best mate) had given him, seeing that as soon as he brought it home it went off wildly. There were so many Dark Things in this house Sirius wasn't sure where to even begin.

He continued pacing until he heard footsteps coming up the stairs, and he darted for the bed, throwing the comforter over him and trying to make it look like he'd been sleeping the whole time. He heard the footsteps stop at his door and he held his breath, but then they walked away, most likely to check on Regulus. Sirius let out a sigh of relief and closed his eyes again. Maybe he'd actually be able to fall asleep.

He awoke to the sound of James's voice. For a moment he was completely confused; he appeared to be in his own room in his own home, and yet he could hear James calling him. Had James come over during the night? That was ridiculous though – it wasn't even morning yet! Besides, James was too far away to make it over without the nightbus.

"_Sirius!" _he heard James' whisper, slightly louder now. Sirius looked around his bedroom, then his gaze landed on the two-way mirror. He hopped out of bed, careful not to step on the board in his room that creaked, and grabbed the mirror, looking into it. Sure enough his friend was staring at him through the mirror. His hazel eyes were bright and wide beneath his thick glasses, and Sirius wondered just how much sugar James had had to be wide awake at this hour.

"James?" Sirius slurred in a low voice, rubbing his eyes tiredly and letting out a yawn. "What do you want?" He practically whispered, hoping that his parents wouldn't be able to hear. If they did, he could pass it off for sleep-talking. According to his dad he'd done it before.

"To talk! What else?" James exclaimed, as though this were the most obvious thing in the world. Sirius blinked sleepily at him. "Couldn't this have waited until morning?"

"I'm sorry, did I disturb your beauty sleep?" James mocked lightly, his voice was also low and Sirius figured his parents were asleep too.

"Yes, you did," Sirius replied in a grumpy voice. Inside though, despite how tired he felt, he felt a certain joy. He wasn't alone.

"Sorry," James said, and Sirius could tell that he didn't mean it. "I'm so _bored _though! You're the only one that has a mirror, mate!"

"I'm starting to wish I didn't," Sirius mumbled, the sleep starting to leave. "What are you still doing up anyway?"

"Went to bed super-early last night," James said nonchalantly. "Woke up super late. Not tired at all."

"Ever stop to think I would be?" Sirius asked, but there was no real venom in his voice. "Glad you called though mate," he said truthfully. "I almost feel like you guys are something I dreamed up whenever I come here," he said, jumping on his bed to be more comfortable. "It's so…. different without you and Moony and Wormtail," he complained.

James frowned, "I know what you mean," he said, "sometimes when I'm about to fall asleep I wonder if you guys are too good to be true."

"Don't get all mushy on me now," Sirius said, half-joking half-serious.

"I'm serious!" Sirius said crossly at his best friend's look.

"No, you're Sirius."

James laughed – that joke never failed to make him chuckle. His laughter was infectious and Sirius couldn't help but to laugh himself. Mostly he was laughing at James, and not about the joke, but his laughter stopped abruptly at the sound of his father's voice: "SIRIUS ORION BLACK!"

Sirius dropped the mirror in surprise, then went to retrieve it. Before he could so much as touch it his father burst through the door. Sirius gulped at the look of fury on his face.

"Who were you talking to?" He demanded.

"Nobody, Sir."

Orion stared at his son through narrow, suspicious eyes. He glanced around the room, as though trying to find the shadow of a man, before returning his gaze back to Sirius. "Go back to sleep," he snapped, "you woke up your mother."

"Big deal," Sirius muttered, but unfortunately Orion heard him. He raised a hand as though he were going to smack Sirius, who cringed in spite of himself, then let his hand drop and slammed the door to Sirius' room shut without a word. Sirius couldn't move for a moment, and when he bent down to grab the mirror his hands were shaking terribly. He mentally cursed – he hated the effect that his parents had on him. Sixteen years of pure hell and he still flinched away whenever a hand was raised. He was completely used to it, but it was a natural reaction for him. Sometimes, like tonight, he wouldn't get smacked or a slap across the head. Sirius figured it wasn't his cringing so much as the fact that they didn't feel like hitting a disobedient child at the moment.

He lifted the mirror, but all he saw was the carpet of James's room. James had obviously stuffed his mirror away as soon as he heard Orion burst through the door. Him and Sirius had already agreed that if one of their parents came in while using the mirror they would put theirs back in order to not be caught.

He let out a sigh of disappointment and threw his mirror back on the nightstand. He really hated his life.

…

"LOOK AT ME WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU!" Walburga screeched. Sirius almost winced at the high pitch as it pierced through his ears, but he'd learned that it would only earn him a smack or worse. Regulus looked at them curiously as he came down the stairs, but as soon as his eyes caught Sirius's he turned away. Sirius had had his head bowed, as he always did whenever he was getting yelled at.

"It wasn't my fault, mum. Honestly!" Sirius exclaimed, "I was having a nightmare."

Walburga rolled her eyes, "Don't be ridiculous, Sirius. You're way too old for nightmares! Not only am I talking about last night, I'm talking about what happened this morning too!"

Sirius didn't have a response to that; mostly because he _had _done something wrong this morning.

"Well?" Walburga demanded, her eyes flashing angrily. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Sirius didn't say anything at first, but under the furious gaze of his mother he managed to get out a: "I'm sorry" through gritted teeth.

"What was that? I didn't quite hear you." Walburga smiled at the glare Sirius shot at her. "I'm sorry."

"Go on," she prompted, seeming to take great enjoyment from Sirius's humiliation.

"I'm sorry that I packed my bags and tried breaking into the cabinet that held the brooms so I could get out of his sorry-ass hellhole that you guys call a home!"

There was a clatter as Regulus dropped his spoon on the table, staring at him with unreadable eyes and his mouth slightly open. Orion was staring stern-faced from across the room. For a moment Walburga looked as though she were about to burst. Her face had turned red from anger and her body seemed to swell with indignation. Before Sirius could even comprehend what happened, he heard a loud _SLAP _and a sudden stinging on his right cheek. The force of the slap had made him stumble back a few paces and he lifted his hand to gingerly touch his cheek. He winced as his fingers brushed over the burning skin and he glared at the ground, unable to face his mother or meet the gaze of anybody in the room. He could feel his face heat up as embarrassment spread over him like a wave.

It had gotten deathly silent in the room. Orion was usually the one who dealt the physical blows, while Walburga tried blowing out everybody's eardrums or tried giving Orion ideas on how exactly she wanted them punished. For a moment Sirius thought that the silence was going to last forever, but then Regulus cleared his throat and went back to eating his cereal. That small sound seemed to clear the tension in the room, but Sirius was still rigid. He hated this place. He really, truly hated it.

…

James had seen the horror on Sirius's face last night, and the image stuck with him during the day. It was so distracting that his parents had picked up on his odd behavior. He was silent during breakfast, lost in thought with worry for his friend. What if they really hurt Sirius because of him? He knew how severe Sirius's parents could be; Sirius told him everything that happened. He knew he left back on some things, but James got the gist of it. Sirius's parents were bad news and though James had tried to get his friend away from that house, there was nothing illegal with what they were doing to Sirius. It was considered strict punishment from a parent to a child but nothing more. The Black's respected tradition, and a beating was common tradition in the Black family. There was nothing they could do even if they tried. They would need a statement from Sirius himself, along with Regulus, and James knew that neither of them would agree to such a thing.

He really hated that stubborn streak Sirius had sometimes.

"James, honey, aren't you going to eat your pancakes?" Dorea Potter asked her son in a light voice. Sitting next to her was Charlus Potter, who also looked concerned at his son's unusually solemn manner.

"What?" James asked distractedly, wondering if Sirius was okay.

"Your pancakes," Dorea said in a slightly firmer voice. "Aren't you hungry?"

"Oh, yeah," James said, picking up his fork and digging into the pancakes. They were good, really good… it still did nothing to appease his worry.

Dorea and Charlus exchanged looks, but this was lost on James, who had finished his pancakes and was biting his lower lip.

"James, is something bothering you?" Charlus asked his son with a frown. James looked up at his father for the first time today. "I'm worried about Sirius."

His parents both looked perplexed. "Why?"

"Because…. I just am…"

"James, where did this come from?"

James worried his lip a little more and then looked up at his parents again. He wouldn't tell them about the two-way mirror, that was for sure. He had to come up with something else…

"He hasn't replied to my owls," James said, which was true – Sirius had stopped replying to any owls James sent weeks ago; though Sirius admitted to James through the mirror that his parents intercepted his mail and wouldn't allow him to talk to "blood-traitors".

"Maybe he's just been busy," Charlus suggested, and Dorea nodded, "There's no reason to get worked up about it, James."

"Can I go back upstairs?" James asked, "I'm a little tired."

Dorea raised her eyebrows, "You're a little tired?"

"Yeah," James said, "I didn't get much sleep last night."

"That's fine with me," Dorea said eventually and Charlus nodded. "Then you can come downstairs and tell us what this really is about," she said in a sterner voice. James frowned but nodded, wondering what other lie he'd be able to think up on the spot. He raced upstairs and grabbed his mirror from under his bed, where he kept it for safekeeping.

"Sirius," he whispered to it, seeing Sirius's ceiling from where the mirror rested on the wardrobe. "Sirius! You there?"

He heard raised voices and automatically stepped away from the mirror, covering his mouth in case his parents would notice. The voices got louder and louder – he could tell that there was an argument of some kind, but he couldn't tell who was arguing and what it was about.

"Oh fine!" he heard Sirius's voice above the dim, "Hit me with your best shot then, I'd love to see what you can do you incest freaks!" He then let out a string of very colorful curses and James heard the door slam.

"Sirius!" James said in a slightly louder voice.

He heard footsteps and then saw Sirius's face in the mirror. James had to bite back a gasp at the sight of Sirius. There was a purple bruise mark on his face that looked like it was in the shape of a handprint.

"Blimey, what happened mate?" James asked, shocked.

"What?" Sirius asked, then brought up a hand to cover his cheek. "Oh, nothing."

James raised his eyebrows, "That doesn't look like nothing."

"Prongs, leave it."

"No."

"Just let it go," Sirius growled out. "I'm not in the mood right now."

"Fine," James said, only to appease Sirius. "You're telling me later then."

"Agreed," Sirius both looked and sounded irritated. James let out a heavy sigh, "You can talk to me."

"I know I can," Sirius said, his voice losing its venom. He sounded tired now, almost like he had last night.

"Did…did I get you in trouble?" James just had to know, it was the only thing that would put his mind at rest.

"No, no you didn't," Sirius said, "I got into trouble about something else, it's not important though."

"It's important to me!"

"J –" Sirius cut off abruptly and James heard the unmistakable shrieking of Walburga Black.

"Er, I need to go…" Sirius said in a rather awkward fashion. James nodded, a little concerned. "Right, mirror me as soon as you can."

"'Kay…"

Sirius's image faded and James let out an irritated huff. This wasn't how he'd planned things out. He was going to talk to Sirius and help him get away from his family if only for a few minutes, but it appeared his best friend didn't have that kind of luxury.

"James, I thought you were going to sleep," a cross voice said, and James looked up to see Charlus standing there, frowning. "Were you just… were you just checking yourself out in the mirror?"

"What! No!" James exclaimed quickly, "I was just… I… I had something in my eye!" He said, wishing he had come up with a better lie.

"Mhm…" his father clearly didn't believe him, but let it go. "So once you're done 'sleeping' if you'll come downstairs, your mother and I agreed we needed to talk to you."

"If it's about that broom thing, I already apologized –"

"Not that, James," said his father, "though we WILL talk about that some other time."

James relaxed slightly, but his curiosity was piqued now. What could they possibly want? Then it dawned on him. They were wondering about Sirius and why James was suddenly so worried for him, even though he hadn't been last night. Now what was he supposed to tell them?

…

Three days had passed, in which Sirius had been cut off from eating any food. Walburga kept claiming that "he wasn't worthy of eating a meal made by the Blacks". Sirius thought this was completely idiotic, seeing as Kreature was the one who made the meals, but he didn't protest. He didn't want to eat anything that Kreature gave him anyway. He wouldn't put it past the house-elf to sneak some poison in Sirius's soup.

Orion didn't seem to think that this was a fair punishment though. He always sneaked Sirius a piece of bread (which Sirius pretended not to care about) and gave him water. However, Orion had his own form of punishment. Sirius was NOT allowed to go into his room, so therefore his choices were to either sleep with Regulus or sleep in the study. There was no way that Sirius would sleep with his brother, even though Regulus had reluctantly agreed he'd allow Sirius access to his room. So Sirius took to sleeping on the (rather comfortable) couch in the study. His mood didn't improve over the fact that there were four guest bedrooms Sirius could easily have occupied.

Sirius was currently staring straight ahead of him, trying to ignore the aches and pains that laced through his body. He was certain that there were bruises, though he didn't want to check to see how bad. In fact, he didn't want to move at all. His body was still twitching from the aftereffects of the Cruciatus Curse that his own father had used on him. It wasn't that Orion had done it very willingly, but under the scrutiny of Sirius's uncle, he knew that his father had felt pressure into doing so. Normally his uncle would have ignored Sirius, and Sirius would have likewise, but Sirius couldn't hold back a string of insults which got him punished.

He'd had the Cruciatus Curse placed on him before, so it wasn't really new, but it was the fact that his father had done it _because someone else told him to _which bugged him the most; and – he hated to admit it – scared him the most. His parents were truly capable of anything, but, like any normal person, could succumb to pressure. Especially if that pressure included hurting a disobedient child; his uncle claimed that if Sirius had been his child he would have learned at a very early age that breaking the rule of 'children should be seen and not heard' would result in severe punishment, and he berated Walburga and Orion for having been 'too soft' on Sirius.

For the first time in his life, Sirius felt lucky to have Walburga and Orion as his parents. If he had lived with his uncle, he would have surely been dead by now. Every single time his uncle came to visit, Sirius gained a new memory that would never go away. All of them included intense pain.

Today, Sirius had gained yet another bad memory with his uncle, although this time his father had been the one inflicting the pain. Regulus and Walburga hadn't even bothered to help him. No doubt Regulus thought he deserved it after all those years of tormenting him, and his mother most likely didn't care either way. She had Regulus, and really, Sirius was just a burden to the family, well-behaved or not.

"Sirius."

Sirius didn't answer his brother's timid voice. Instead he just continued to stare ahead of him, trying to forget everything that had just happened. "Sirius…" Regulus's voice was full of uncertainty.

"What," Sirius finally got out through gritted teeth. "Come to gloat about how much you're loved in the Black family? Come to say what a disappointment I am? Don't worry, I've heard it all already. You can leave now."

It was an obvious dismissal, but Regulus didn't leave. Instead he walked over and sat on the couch next to Sirius, not looking at his older brother. "You deserved that you know," Regulus muttered finally.

Sirius felt as though someone had punched him in the heart, but he didn't let any emotion show on his face.

"You know that you did, deep down. You hate to admit it to yourself," the younger brother continued on, "it's the only way they'll stop. Contrary to what you seem to believe, I don't hate you. I just hate how you act sometimes. Not because it reflects bad on our family – I could care less about that – it's because it always gets you into trouble. Why can't you just behave for once? Please? Tell me."

Sirius turned to shoot an angry glare at his brother. "Why would I do that?"

Regulus didn't flinch, though there was a sadness in his eyes that made Sirius's guard fall slightly. "Because… you might hate me… but you are my brother, and I love you."

Sirius let out a disbelieving snort, but Regulus looked completely serious. "Sirius, why won't you believe that? Are you so lost you don't believe that I love you?"

All emotion that Sirius had felt in that instant for his brother vanished. He jumped up from the couch and glared daggers at Regulus. "Believe it? BELIEVE IT?" his voice had started out icy calm, but a moment later had come out as a loud yell. All noise in the other room died down.

"Why would I believe you!" Sirius continued ranting, "You dare say that _I'm _the one who was lost? _You're _the one who got brainwashed by them! You're the one who left me! You're the one who turned your back on me, _you are!_ And for what, so that you can be mummy's perfect angel? So you can be dad's favorite son? So that the Black family will actually have a respectable child! YOU SAID YOU DIDN'T CARE!" Sirius screamed. Regulus's eyes were wide.

"YOU SAID THAT YOU DIDN'T CARE WHAT THEY SAID – THAT WE'RE STILL BROTHERS! WE WERE SUPPOSED TO BE BROTHER'S FOREVER, AND YOU TURNED YOUR BACK ON ME! YOU CHOSE _THEM _OVER ME! I'M THE ONE WHO TOOK CARE OF YOU! I'M THE ONE WHO WAS ALWAYS THERE TO HELP YOU WHEN YOU GOT HURT! I'M THE ONE WHO YOU ALWAYS WENT TO FOR HELP DURING HOMEWORK BECAUSE _THEY _WOULDN'T BOTHER WITH SUCH THINGS! YOU BETRAYED ME – YOU DON'T _LOVE_ ME! YOU NEVER HAVE, AND YOU NEVER WILL!"

Sirius hadn't noticed that his parents and uncle had raced in the room to see what the commotion was about, and he took a sort of sick satisfaction at the complete anguish in Regulus's eyes. Then a memory came back to him, of when he was first going to Hogwarts and Regulus was left behind with their parents. Regulus had cried and cried, and the same anguish had been in his eyes then as there was now. It was too much for Sirius to take. Without a word he stalked past Regulus and pushed past his family, barely hearing his uncle's exclamation of: "I told you that boy is bad news! He needs to be sent to Saint Mungo's and put in the loony bin!"

Sirius whipped his wand from under his robes and aimed it at the door. "Alohamora."

The lock clicked open and Sirius rummaged around his room, grabbing his suitcase and throwing everything he could think of inside of it. Clothes, books, socks, and random accessories were chucked into the suitcase, as well as the two-way mirror. All was silent downstairs, but as soon as Sirius emerged down the stairs his mother started screeching at him. "WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING! HOW DARE YOU YELL AT YOUR BROTHER YOU LITTLE BRAT!"

Sirius turned around, and for the first time raised his wand at his mother. She blinked in surprise and a sort of wonder and anger crossed over her features. "Get away from me," he growled. "NOW! I CAN'T STAY HERE ANYMORE. I CAN'T TAKE IT."

Walburga backed up a few paces, but when she spotted the suitcase she started screaming for Orion. "GET HIM! GET HIM NOW! DON'T LET HIM LEAVE!"

Orion raced to grab his son, but he only succeeded in grabbing the air where Sirius had been only seconds before. Sirius may have been a beater on the Gryffindor team, but that didn't mean he wasn't fast. He bolted out of the door and raced down the street.

Beads of sweat dripped down his forehead, and he felt as though he'd left his lungs far behind him, but he didn't stop. He couldn't. They'd find him if he stopped, he needed to get as far away from them as possible.

He heard a few muggles let out angry yells as Sirius pushed past them, but he didn't stop to apologize. It was only when his knees buckled underneath of him that he finally gave up on running. He thought that his breath may have been trying to escape him as he panted, face-down on the ground. He heard a muggle ask him if he was alright, but Sirius didn't respond. What was he supposed to say? That he ran away from home?

Once the muggle offered to take him to a hospital, Sirius finally spoke. "No, no, don't. My friend is coming to get me, he'll be here soon. He'll come get me, he will…"

For a moment the muggle stared at him suspiciously, and Sirius took this time to look the man over. He looked to be in his mid-forties and had a pleasant face. His brown hair was a tangled mess on top of his head, and his blue eyes had a certain warmth to them. How could anybody look at this man and think that he needed to be wiped out from the world because he didn't have magic? He'd give anything to not have magic at this moment.

"When is he coming?" The man asked curiously.

"I… I don't know, soon though."

"I'll sit with you," the man offered kindly, but Sirius shook his head. "No, no I'm sorry… I just need to be alone right now."

The man nodded in understanding, "My name is David by the way."

"I'm…Sirius…"

"Sirius…?" David seemed to think this over. "That's an unusual name."

"Yeah well, my parents are unusual people," he muttered, not sure if David heard him or not. David gave him another look, and said: "Are you sure you want to be alone out here?"

"Positive," Sirius said, allowing a small smile to come over his features as he looked at David. David frowned slightly, but abided by Sirius's wishes as he walked away. Sirius looked after him, and once he was certain David wouldn't be able to see him, he pulled out the two-way mirror from his suitcase.

"James!" He cried desperately, not bothering to keep his voice down. "James! Come on mate, I need you!"

Not a moment later James's face swam in view of the mirror and Sirius let out a slightly hysterical laugh of relief.

"Padfoot?" James's eyes widened, "Blimey mate, you look bloody awful. What happened?"

"Nevermind that," Sirius said impatiently, "James can I stay with you?"

"What?" James looked baffled.

"I know it's a lot," Sirius said quickly, "but I only need to stay for a little bit. I'll be out of your hair soon enough, I'll find some –"

"Padfoot."

"Yes, Prongs?"

"Shut up."

Sirius stared at him, wide-eyed. Was this James refusing to give Sirius shelter?

"You're staying with us," James said, "and you're not leaving."

"But…I…"

"No buts," James said, "I've already talked it out with my parents."

For a moment Sirius felt relief, and then confusion. "Talked… how did you… I just told you!"

"I know, we've er… we've been discussing it for a bit now…" James gave him a sheepish grin. "Um, welcome to the family, mate?"

Sirius blinked.

"Where are you?" James asked, ignoring Sirius's stunned silence.

"I… I don't know," Sirius admitted, looking around. He honestly had no idea where he was. He wished he'd asked David…

"Anything look familiar?"

"No…"

"Oh," James frowned, then his expression brightened. "Come to us! Call the nightbus."

"I've never done it before though!"

"It's easy," James exclaimed, "just hold out your wand on the side of the street. I think… it's like a sort of signal."

Sirius raised an eyebrow at his best friend's uncertainty, but sighed and agreed to do it all the same. He shoved the two-way mirror back in the suitcase and did the instructions that James had told him. Almost instantly a huge purple double-decker bus skidded to a halt in front of him. It was going so fast Sirius doubted that any muggle had seen it.

"Hello," said a cheerful voice, and Sirius looked up to see a pleasantly plump man waving at him from inside the bus. "Come in, come in!"

Sirius picked up his suitcase and walked inside the parked bus, glancing around. Instead of chairs there were beds. Some of them were occupied and some of them weren't. Sirius took the first one he saw that was empty and sat down on the soft bed. He looked up imploringly at the short man, who said: "I'm Austin Turner, and I'll be your conductor this evening."

"Right," Sirius murmured.

"What's your name then?"

"My name? It's uh… hey listen, how do you know where I need to go?" Sirius changed the subject quickly. Austin gave him an odd look but answered all the same, "Ever heard of magic 'hey listen'?" Austin sounded amused. "Where you goin' anyways?"

"Godric's Hollow," Sirius said quickly. "I need to get there quick."

Austin nodded and walked up to the front of the bus, whispering something to the driver. The driver nodded and a second later they were speeding down the road. Sirius shut his eyes, almost certain that if he opened them he would puke. He'd always had a problem getting in muggle cars, and one that went over 400mph was definitely not helping.

The bus skidded to a halt so suddenly Sirius almost went flying off the bed. His stomach was churning by the time he opened his eyes.

"Godric's Hollow!" Austin exclaimed brightly, helping Sirius up out of the bed and grabbing his suitcase. "Come back soon!" he said as soon as Sirius stumbled out of the bus, throwing his bag after him. The nightbus left before Sirius could even murmur a sarcastic: "yeah, that's likely."

The street suddenly seemed very dark and lonely without the presence of the nightbus. He barely had to glance upon recognizing the Potter household. He grabbed his bag and raced to the door, ringing the bell on it furiously. At this point he didn't care if he was waking up James' parents, he just wanted to change into some clean clothes, fall asleep, and – most importantly – see his best friend again.

The door opened almost instantly and Sirius shielded his eyes from the light inside. He felt someone grab his arm and pull him roughly inside the house. "Padfoot!"

"Merlin, could you be any louder?" Sirius complained, rubbing the ear in which James had yelled in. "Sorry," James said sheepishly, but Sirius could tell from the grin that he wasn't sorry at all. "Come on, my parents set up one of the guest bedrooms but I told them you wouldn't mind sharing a room with me –"

"And we told him you might need some time alone," Dorea Potter said, appearing behind them both with a small smile on her face. "Hello, Sirius dear," she said kindly.

"Hello Mrs. Potter," Sirius replied in an equally civil voice. He'd always liked James' parents. "I'm fine sleeping with James," he added. James shot his mom a winning smile.

"Alright Sirius, it's up to you," Dorea didn't sound put out at Sirius's decision, in fact, it sounded as though she'd expected it. "Charlus is asleep right now, had a rough day today, so you and James just head on up to his room. James, help him unpack," she aimed the last part at her son. James nodded and grabbed Sirius's suitcase before headed up the stairs, Sirius in tow. "Oi, I can get my own bag!"

"Not likely mate," James said with a grin. "While you're here you listen to my rules."

Sirius faked a groan, "Oh why ever did I leave?"

They both laughed and James opened the door to his room. The first thing that Sirius saw was the Gryffindor banner – the same one he had in his room. He smiled at it, knowing that he wasn't alone. He'd never be alone again. James would make sure of that.

…

**Hey you, really hope you enjoyed this. I was thinking that if you liked this enough, I would make an entire story of Sirius's years at Hogwarts, starting with his first year. Maybe a little before it, until seventh year. There would be seven fanfictions, one for each year during Hogwarts. Let me know what you think! **

**Please leave a review, thanks! **


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